


Life in the City

by stillusesapencil



Series: Javid's indie playlist [5]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Fluff, M/M, or not exactly fluff but happier things than normal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23760772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillusesapencil/pseuds/stillusesapencil
Summary: It’s a Sunday night when his phone rings.
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Series: Javid's indie playlist [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616590
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	Life in the City

**Author's Note:**

> [Life in the city](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ylT1AZgdIA) by the Lumineers

It’s a Sunday night when his phone rings. 

His head is on his desk, and he answers without looking, assuming it’s Spot calling again about the two-bedroom he and Race and Davey have been looking at. 

(It’s smaller than a shoebox and probably infested with roaches, but it’s something out of his house and out on his own and closer to campus and the library. And it’s somewhere new, unmarked. It’s time to move on, Davey knows. He’s trying, god is he trying.)

Spot had promised to call, so it must be him, so Davey answers. “Hey Spot.”

A half-beat pause, then, “I ain’t Spot.” 

He sits straight up. “Jack?”

“Yeah--” his voice catches a tad “--yeah, it’s me.” 

It’s been two weeks since their last text, and it wasn’t anything substantial. “Oh my god, how are you, what’s going on?”

“Davey, I--” he stops, clears his throat. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Davey says, confused.

“I’ve been thinkin’--about that day--at the airport--”

Oh god. “You don’t have to say anything, it was wrong of me, I should’ve asked--”

“Would ya shut up for once? Walkin’ Mouth, I swear…”

Davey can hear the fondness in his voice, the way a person’s words shape only when they’re speaking to someone they really care about. “Ok. I’ll shut up.”

“I miss Manhattan. I miss the skyline, and the taxi cars, and the fuckin’--even the fuckin’ noise. I miss it.” 

“I thought you hated New York,” Davey says softly.

“It ain’t pretty for sure,” Jack grunts, and adds gently, “But it has you.”

Davey’s heart thunders in his ears. 

“It has me,” he agrees.

“Davey, I’m in love with you.” Jack says it all in a rush, all clogged tears and twisted stomachs. “And it sucks that it took me leaving to figure it out, but it’s the truth, it’s the goddamn truth, and I can’t shake it, Davey, I can’t shake  _ you _ and I miss you so damn much, I--” he stops. “I love you,” he finishes, his voice diminished to nothing more than a shell. “I love you.”

Tears well in Davey’s eyes, his throat swelling. “I love  _ you, _ ” he returns, “I have--forever, I think.”

“I know,” Jack murmurs. “I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up.” 

Davey chuckles wetly. His stomach churns with bewilderment and a hint of growing joy. Jack loves him. Jack  _ loves _ him. It’s years too late, miles too far, and words too few for what feels like a miracle. 

But it’s a chance. 

It’s a chance.

“What are we going to do?” he asks.

“Well, I. I guess we can try this? Distance?” Jack sounds lost, confused. Exhausted. 

“Yes. Distance.” There’s a thousand reasons why they shouldn’t, why this is a bad idea, why Davey’s not emotionally healthy enough for this yet. But god, it’s a chance and he’s been waiting for this his whole life and he can’t let it go now. “I want to. I want  _ you. _ ”

“Yeah. I want this too.” There’s a hint of a smile in his words. “This is going to be rough.”

“Yeah.” There’s no denying it: this will be hard. At least Jack sees that, and isn’t pretending it will make his life perfect, the way he did with Santa Fe. The way Davey has done with Jack.

In the background, there’s the sound of a door slamming and voices.

“I have to go now, but I just want you to know--the next time I see Manhattan, I’ll be glad.”

“And I,” says Davey, “will be glad to see you.” 

He sets his phone down on his desk, scarcely wanting to move lest he wake from this dream. Out his window, he sees the grey walls of the building beside them. Living in this city isn’t always pretty, but damn, it sure got a whole lot better.

**Author's Note:**

> First happy one? Happy-ish? _Do you know how hard long distance is???_ But hey, we got a confession. Stay tuned to see if our boys make it.


End file.
